Investigates whether an experimentally imposed 80dB (A) noise affected psychomotor, serial memory words and pictures, incidental memory, visual recall, paired associates, perceptual learning, and coding performance of five-year-old Black children attending day care centers near and far from elevated subways. (HOD)

Two studies on the relationship between taking a commercial coaching course and performance on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) are reported. In both studies, one on repeating examinees and another on first-time examinees, differences in scores favoring coached examinees were found on the science knowledge and problems subtests.…

Data drawn from a qualitative study of teachers' perceptions of work stress is presented. Linkages between teacher stress and teacher performance are firmly established. Study data are discussed in terms of the Performance Adaptation Syndrome, a term used to describe the deleterious effects of prolonged work stress on instructional ability.…

Three year trends in the law grade averages of nonminority, Black, and Chicano students were studied in two sets of law schools enrolling more than 900 Black students and more than 300 Chicano students. Reasons for the differential improvements in grades are considered, including statistical artifacts and substantive factors. (Author/BS)

Investigated attributes of 61 online searchers that were believed to affect quality of search results: creativity level (measured using two self-report inventories); intelligence level (approximated from GRE verbal and quantitative scores); and personality traits in regard to masculinity, femininity, and self-esteem (measured using…

The influence of item arrangement on students' total test performance was investigated. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The main finding within the context of this study was that item arrangements based on item difficulties did not influence achievement examination performance. (Author/DWH)

While evaluation conditions made little difference in the quality of the fourth graders' drawings, their effect on continuing motivation was significant. The threat of grades and peer comparisons was detrimental to continuing motivations. Students who evaluated their own performance were the most motivated. (Author/RM)

Children with language deficiencies in grades two through four received instruction in listening comprehension. One-half of the children in each grade verbalized explicit strategies prior to applying them to questions. Strategy self-verbalization led to high self-efficacy across grades and promoted performance among third and fourth graders.…

Reviews the history and conclusions of school effectiveness research, which focuses on student achievement, and of school improvement research, which emphasizes educational innovation per se; analyzes the methodologies of these two lines of inquiry. Distills from both bodies of literature seven school characteristics that constitute excellence.…

Research increasingly points to the relationship between effective leadership and increased student achievement. But just what constitutes effective leadership-and how to best support school leaders-has been a matter of both study and speculation. This policy brief draws on McREL's leadership research and an analysis of the needs in McREL's…

An important federal statute impacting student records is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), enacted to ensure student/parent access to education records and to limit disclosures to others for unauthorized purposes. FERPA Regulations set forth the basic federal records retention and destruction requirements. The records of…

This book is for teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) seeking to improve the ways that they work together to meet the needs of children in their classes. The number of teaching assistants (including learning support assistants who support children with special educational needs) has expanded greatly in recent years, a trend which is set to…

The study reported in this paper builds on a broader work aiming to identify factors that affect the development of prospective primary teachers' efficacy beliefs (TEB) with respect to teaching mathematics. Eight student teachers were interviewed in the beginning, in the middle and in the end of a fieldwork course; they were encouraged to reflect…

An action research project was developed and implemented using student self monitoring of higher order thinking skills and task management to improve the music skills of a fifth grade beginning band (n=30) from a small middle school located in a rural midwest village. Evidence of the problem was documented with a performance test, a written test,…

This book explores managing the performance of education staff in England and Wales and in Scotland. It compares the different policies of performance management as practiced in England and Wales and in Scotland. (The Scottish system of education is independent of that of England and Wales.) Chapter 1 provides an introduction to performance…